FRNW vs RNRG

FRNWAFidelity Clean Energy ETF

RNRGDGlobal X Renewable Energy Producers ETF

In short

FRNW Fidelity wrote its own clean energy index, then priced the fund at 0.39% a year, matching the category's cheapest heavyweights and undercutting most rivals. Roughly 60 global stocks: solar, wind, and the grid gear behind them.

RNRG Most clean-energy funds buy the factories. RNRG buys the power plants: roughly 40 global companies that generate and sell renewable electricity. A utility-flavored take on the theme, running since 2015.

Stated mandate

FRNW The fund seeks returns that generally track the Fidelity Clean Energy Index before fees and expenses.

RNRG The fund seeks investment results that generally track the price and yield performance of the Indxx Renewable Energy Producers Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• FRNW 0.39% a year ties the low-cost leader of the group (ICLN) and comes in under CNRG at 0.45% and FAN at 0.61%. In a theme where fees often run higher, that is real money kept.
• Global by mandate, not US-only. The index reaches clean energy companies worldwide, so the fund follows the industry rather than one country's subsidy calendar.
• A plain index fund, not a stock-picking bet: it aims to track the Fidelity Clean Energy Index before fees, so what you own is spelled out in the methodology.
• One of the stronger builds in a crowded clean energy shelf on our review, with the low fee and a spread-out portfolio doing the heavy lifting. Pays quarterly.

• RNRG Owns the producers, not the plumbing: its index targets companies that generate and sell renewable power rather than panel and turbine manufacturers.
• One global basket of about 40 producers, so operators outside the US carry real weight instead of a token sleeve.
• Risk profile screens better than most of its clean-energy group, closer to contracted power operators than to boom-and-bust equipment makers.
• Trading since 2015, so it has lived through the theme's full boom and hangover rather than arriving at the peak.

Worth knowing

• FRNW One theme, one industry. Clean energy names swing with interest rates, policy shifts, and equipment prices, so the ride is far choppier than a broad market fund.
• Roughly 60 stocks. That is focused enough that a handful of names and a couple of countries carry real weight in the outcome.
• Not one of the giants. A mid-size asset base and moderate trading activity can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the category's most heavily traded funds.

• RNRG At 0.65% a year it prices above the middle of the clean-energy shelf, and broader peers such as ICLN and FRNW charge less for wider coverage.
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can be wide and size takes patience to work through.
• Producers-only and roughly 40 names: it moves differently from broad clean-energy indexes that lean on manufacturers and tech.

Full FRNW profile⁠

Full RNRG profile⁠